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497th Regular Meeting

Tuesday, October 24, 2017 Sunset Ballroom, 8th Floor, Holiday Inn

8787 Reeder Rd., Overland Park, KS 66214 Social Hour - Cash Bar – 5:30p.m.

Dinner - 6:30p.m.

October Speaker Dr. Kyle S. Sinisi, Professor of History at The

Citadel, will be speaking about his book titled: The Last Hurrah, Sterling Price’s Missouri Expedition of 1864, that was published in July of 2015.

Confederate General Sterling Price's forces were defeated at the Battle of Westport on October 23, 1864 and at the Battle of Mine Creek on October 25, 1864.

Dr. Sinisi plans to bring copies of his book for sale at the dinner meeting. This should be a very interesting program, so bring a friend and enjoy the evening.

Attendance requires a paid dinner reservation.

Please be sure that Susan Keipp receives all reservations by 12:00 noon on Thursday, October 19, 2017 along with payment of $27.00 per person. Mail to:

Susan Keipp, 436 W 88th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64114 Report any necessary adjustments by calling Susan at 816-333-0025 or e-mailing her at:

skeipp@kc.rr.com by 12:00 noon on the Thursday before the Tuesday meeting. Use your debit/credit card at our website, http://www.cwrtkc.org. Go to

Dinner_Reservation under the Meetings tab, fill out the reservation form, and then make your payment in the box to the left on that page through PayPal. If you are using this service please send Susan an email, so that he will not miss your reservation. mailto:skeipp@kc.rr.com

Reservation Deadline: 12:00 noon, Oct. 19th

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS President

Simon Bolivar (Chip) Buckner IV

First Vice-President Ron Basel

Second Vice-President Dan Dooley

Treasurer Susan K. Keipp

Assistant Treasurer Dennis Garstang

Corresponding Secretary & Recording Secretary

Judy Smith Preservation Director

Arnold Schofield Board of Directors

Don Bates Sr. Sylvia Stucky Les Thierolf

Past Presidents Don Bates, Sr. Dennis Garstang Dave Pattison

Chairman of Board Monnett Battle of Westport Fund (Ex-Officio)

Daniel L. Smith Sergeant at Arms

Lane Smith Chaplain

Rev. David L. Holloway Historian

Betty Ergovich Border Bugle Editor

Dave Pattison dcpattis@gmail.com

Civil War Round Table of Kansas City P.O. Box 6202 Shawnee Mission, KS 66206

An IRC 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization

Website- http://cwrtkc.org/

Join us on Facebook!

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ImportantReservationInformationThank you to all of our members, who attended the

September dinner meeting, for getting their reservations in on time and helping the reservation process go smoothly.

Please note that if you make a reservation and are not able to attend the dinner meeting, you are still responsible for the cost of the dinner. We have to pay the Holiday Inn based on the number of reservations that we turn in. Also, please do not show up at the dinner meeting without making a reservation. If you do, we cannot guarantee that you will be served a meal. DinnerMenu

Chicken Parmesan – Sautéed chicken breast served over penne pasta with marinara sauce and chef's choice of vegetable, salad, bread, chef’s choice of dessert, coffee, iced tea, and water.

The Holiday Inn has advised they can provide the following three options for dinner:

• The main entree meal as selected by the Civil War Round Table.

• A vegetarian meal as determined by the chef. • A gluten-free meal as determined by the chef.

The Holiday Inn indicated they cannot provide a low-carb meal. MeetOurSpeaker

Dr. Kyle S. Sinisi

Dr. Kyle S. Sinisi graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1984 with a B.A. in History. Following four years of active service in the United States Army, he attended Kansas State University, where he earned both the M.A. and Ph.D. Professor Sinisi came to The Citadel in 1994.

Professor Sinisi teaches a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses at The Citadel, but

his concentrates his offerings on the Civil War, World War II, U.S. military history, and the history of weaponry. He is a two-time recipient of the James A. Grimsley Award, The Citadel's annual award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

Professor Sinisi is co-editor (with Professor Michael B. Barrett) of the "Total War Series" line of books for the Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group. He is the author of The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864 (A. M. Pate Award for best book of 2015 on the Trans-Mississippi Civil War) and Sacred Debts: State Civil War Claims and American Federalism. He is also a co-editor of Warm Ashes: Issues in Southern History at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century. Professor Sinisi is currently at work on a biography of Union General Samuel R. Curtis and a study of Charleston SC during the Civil War. OverviewoftheBook: LastHurrah: SterlingPrice'sMissouriExpeditionof1864

The following is a summary of Professor Sinisi's book from the Amazon website:

"In the late summer of 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price lead a last ditch attempt to liberate Missouri from Union occupation and brutal guerilla warfare. Price's invading army was like few others seen during the Civil War. It was an army of cavalry that lacked men, horses, weapons, and discipline. Its success depended entirely upon a native uprising of pro-Confederate Missourians. When that uprising never occurred, Price's rag-tag army marched through the state seeking revenge, supplies, and conscripts. It was a march that took too long and ultimately allowed Union forces to converge on Price and badly defeat him in a series of battles that ran from Kansas City to the Arkansas border. Three months and 1,400 miles after it had started, the longest sustained cavalry operation of the war had ended in disaster.

"The Last Hurrah is the story of Price's invasion from its politically charged planning to its starving retreat. The Last Hurrah is also the story of what happened after the shooting stopped. Even as hundreds of Missourians followed Price out of the state and tried desperately to join his army, elements of the Union army visited retribution upon Confederate sympathizers, while still others showed little regard for the lives of the prisoners they had captured. Many more would have to suffer and die." TheSergeantMajor’sBookAuction

Arnold Schofield will auction the following books at the October dinner meeting:

Frontier Governor: Samuel J. Crawford of Kansas by Mark A. Plummer, University Press, 1971. Autographed, First Edition, in mint condition, with dust jacket.

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Border Warfare In Southeastern Kansas 1856-1859 by G. Murlin Welch, Linn County Publishing, 1977. First Edition, in mint condition, with dust jacket.

Action Before Westport 1864 by Howard N. Monnett, Published by the Westport Historical Society, 1964. First Edition, in mint condition, no dust jacket.

October 25th and The Battle of Mine Creek, by Lumir Buresh, Lowell Press, Kansas City MO, 1977. Autographed, First Edition, in mint condition, with dust jacket. LastMonth'sProgram

Speaker, John Michael Priest

At our dinner meeting on September 26th, John Michael (Mike) Priest gave an interesting presentation about the Battle of South Mountain, which was the prelude to Antietam. Mr. Priest told us a number of stories about the officers and men who fought in the battle, as well as the people who lived on the battlefield. He emphasized that, had Robert E. Lee not been bested at the gaps along South Mountain, there would have been no Antietam. Lee's decision to make a stand along Antietam Creek was a point of pride -- he had never been "whipped" before and would not return to Virginia defeated. That decision was a fateful one, since the sparring and fighting drove him into an untenable position that became his downfall. UpcomingSpeakerSchedule

November 28, 2017: Dr. John T. Kuehn, the William A. Stofft Chair of Historical Research at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, will be

speaking about Gideon Welles, Gus Fox, and the U. S. Naval Blockade.

December 19, 2017: Round Table members Herschel and Jacque Stroud will give a presentation titled: "Abe and Mary, a Family Portrait." This talk is based on the book written by Harold Holzer and Robert Neely, regarding the Lincoln's family photograph album, which they kept in the White House. The album was lost until 1985, rediscovered, and Holzer and Neely produced their book on the album titled: The Lincoln Family Album. Herschel and Jacque will appear in period dress, but not as Abe and Mary, but as Herschel and Jacque, commenting on the book and its ramifications.

January 23, 2018: Dr. Ethan Rafuse of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth KS, will give a program about Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton.

February 27, 2018: February is Black History Month. Round Table member Arnold Schofield will be speaking about the Kansas Independent Colored Light Artillery.

March 27, 2018: March is Women's History Month. Aaron Barnhart and Diane Eickhoff will be giving a program about women soldiers in the Civil War.

April 24, 2018: Eric Wittenberg, an attorney from Ohio, will be speaking about his book titled: The Battle of Brandy Station. Mr. Wittenberg last spoke to our Round Table in November of 2015. RememberingCharlesH.Kopke

We are sorry to report that long-time Civil War Round Table member Charles Howell Kopke passed away on September 29, 2017 at the age of 95. According to Charles' obituary in the Kansas City Star, he was born in Great Bend KS. Charles had a notable career in banking in Kansas City and was known far and wide for his philanthropic efforts. Charles served three years in the U.S. Army Corps as a radar technician. He worked for Commerce Bank for 40 years and was Senior Vice-President and Manager of the branch office at 89th and State Line. Charles had a lifelong interest in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War and donated many of his valuable, historic books to educational institutions in the area. Charles was not able to attend our dinner meetings for the past several years. However, he always enjoyed reading the Border Bugle. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. at the Mount Moriah Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home, located at 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City MO 64131. Charles will be greatly missed by all us who knew him, through our connection with the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City.

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OtherMemberNewsWe would like to welcome new member Sam

Crawford, who is a friend of Roger Stanton. Sam is retired and lives in Shawnee KS. He is primarily interested in Civil War battles west of the Mississippi. One of Sam's ancestors is Samuel J. Crawford, the 3rd Governor of Kansas. We currently have 113 members in the Round Table.

Don Bates is continuing to offer some of his Civil War books for sale to our members. All of his books are hardcover and are in excellent condition, with dust jackets and protective covers. Some of Don's books have been signed by the authors. If interested, please contact Don.

James C. (Chris) Edwards and Dick Titterington have written a new book titled: Quantrill's Revenge: A Comprehensive Tour Guide to Quantrill's 1863 Raid on Lawrence. The book is available on Amazon for $24.99. The following is some information about the book:

In August 1863, guerrilla chieftain William C. Quantrill led around 400 Missouri guerrillas deep into Kansas to attack Lawrence, “the great hot-bed of abolitionism in Kansas.” Over a four-day period, Quantrill led his men over 90 miles from Johnson County, Missouri, to Lawrence where they burned much of the town and killed over 150 townsmen. After spending four hours in

Lawrence, Quantrill took an 80 mile route back into Missouri, skirmishing with Union cavalry along the way.

This tour guide contains 49 tour stops and follows the route taken by Quantrill’s guerrillas during their 1863 raid on Lawrence, Kansas. The tour begins in Johnson County, Missouri and goes west through Jackson and Cass Counties, Missouri, to the Kansas state line. The tour enters Kansas just north of the boundary between Johnson and Miami Counties, Kansas, and continues heading northwest through Johnson and Douglas Counties, Kansas, on the way to Lawrence. As you might expect, most of the tour stops are located in Lawrence, Kansas. After Lawrence there are a number of tour stops following the route taken by Quantrill’s guerrillas on their way back to Missouri as they were pursued by Federal troops. Altogether the tour covers a distance of approximately 175 miles from start to finish.

ExecutiveCommitteeMeetingThe Executive Committee of the Civil War Round

Table will meet at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 21, 2017. The meeting will be held at Don Bates' office, located at 7600 State Line Road, Prairie Village KS 66208. All current members of the Round Table are invited to attend. TheRoundTable’sWebsiteEmbedded throughout our emailed newsletter are links to the website. Just click on those links and find out what great information is available on the Civil War Round Table of Kansas City website. Check out the Round Table’s Facebook page, and make sure you “like” the page. Civil War Round Table of Kansas City Facebook Page SergeantMajor’sRoar

Battlefield Dispatches #436

SWAMP FOX “A Great Nickname”

During the Civil War many soldiers received

nicknames and Confederate General M. Jeff Thompson was called the “Swamp Fox." For some, this may be a reminder of another “Swamp Fox” who was Francis Marion of the Revolutionary War, who commanded troops that defeated the British in the swamps of South Carolina. Both men were cunning like foxes in the way they waged war and General Thompson operated for the most part in the rough, swamp country of southeast Missouri. However, during the Civil War in 1864, he and his command were attached to General Jo Shelby’s Iron Brigade, which participated in the Confederate Campaign in Missouri and Kansas that was commanded by Major General Sterling Price.

The following is part of General Thompson’s after action report that describes the participation of his command in the Battles of the Little Osage River, Charlot’s Farm on October 25th, and Newtonia, Missouri on Tuesday October 25th and Friday October 28th, 1864. This report is located in Volume 41, Part I of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion on Pages 668 and 669.

“On the 24th we marched southward [from Kansas

City] with no event of interest occurring. On the 25th we resumed our march and reached the [Little] Osage River about noon. We were here preparing to go into camp when your [General Shelby] ordered me to form the men and move northwestwardly to check the enemy, who were approaching from that direction. I soon perceived

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them advancing, but in forming my line and advancing they fell back and we passed over the ridge out of sight of the road we had traveled. Slayback and Erwin were sent to a field to our left and Smith, Elliot, Gordon and Williams constituted my main line. We remained in this position a short time, when an order was received to quietly withdraw and cross the [Little] Osage. I started the main line for the ford and moved to a point to direct those on our left. Our movement was made very leisurely and not until I reached the ford did I learn of the disasters [the Battles of Trading Post and Mine Creek] of the past few hours. We were ordered to dispute the passage of the enemy and delay his approach. The dispositions were under your direction and we quietly awaited him. The party left at the ford were flanked on both sides and retired without firing a shot and soon the enemy appeared on the south side of the stream. Our first line, composed of Elliot's and Williams' Regiments coolly witnessed the formation and advance of the enemy and when within range commenced firing. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF LOADING ENFIELD RIFLES ON HORSEBACK now became apparent again, for after one discharge the horses became excited and when the enemy charged, which they soon did, there was nothing to do but retreat. The men held their horses well in hand and could have been controlled, but upon approaching the second line it commenced firing before we reached it and broke as we passed through. There was a third line formed by Erwin’s Regiment that had the advantage of a ditch, which covered the road and had it not been for the check that he gave the enemy, very many of the brigade would have been killed or captured. We soon passed out of immediate danger and the men formed again readily, although all regimental organization was lost.

"Were it not out of place in a report like this I would speak of the manner of rallying troops, for in this day’s experience was the experience of many years of an ordinary soldier’s life and I watched the manner closely that I may hereafter, should necessity require it, know how to control men in a stampede. All ran, yet none were frightened and as there was no discipline I found a quiet voice and ordinary remark attracted more attention than the vehement language and orders that some use.

"Our lines were formed and broken several times this day, but our loss was small. Each colonel retained a part of his command about him, but the brigade was not formed together after the first line was broken. I was with one line and then another and came off the field with colonel Elliot after night had set in. Our march was continued to the Marmaton River, where we encamped.

"Early in the morning of the 26th, we were in the saddle, but our march was much delayed by a mistake in the road by the head of the column. The train was burned on this morning. After a tedious day’s march we

reached the waters of the Neosho and resting the men for a few hours we proceeded to Carthage, Missouri where the army was encamped, reaching it after daybreak on the 27th. On the 27th we left Carthage at noon and marched to Shoal Creek and got into camp late at night on account of a mill race which had delayed the whole army, each man his portion of the time.

"On the morning of the 28th, my brigade was given the advance and we were directed to move on Newtonia and attack the enemy force stationed there. We were delayed by the duty of checking the stragglers from our army passing to the front, but we entered the prairie in Newtonia which is situated without being discovered and moved up toward the town. When the advance guard came in sight there was a great commotion among the garrison and they soon took to flight and the advance under Captain Williams and Colonel Erwin attempted to intercept them, but the distance was too great and they only succeeded in over taking and killing the commanding officer (Captain Christian), who was noted for his bloodthirsty brutality. The brigade soon reached the town, but passed through to camp two miles south.

"We had been in camp but a few hours when our scouts reported that the main body of the enemy were approaching on the same road we had come. I was ordered to form the brigade on foot and proceed to meet them. I did so and advanced into the prairie to a fence we were directed to form on, but soon we were notified that it was a false alarm and returned to our camps. We had scarcely commenced the ordinary duties of camp when we were again ordered out and proceeding to the same place found the enemy drawn up before us on the opposite side of the small field. The firing commenced immediately and in a few minutes our line bravely crossed the fence and advanced upon the enemy, crossing the field under a hot fire of artillery and small arms and drove the enemy into the open prairie. Not stopping at this second fence an instant, we advanced into the prairie and continued to drive the enemy, never letting them form to charge, which they endeavored to do. There were some mounted men on our right, but no supports near our rear and I halted the line after we had advanced so far that we were exposed to flanking. We remained in this position until the enemy had retired their line, when we fell back toward our camp, receiving several shots from the enemy’s artillery as we retired.

"This was our last fight with the enemy on this Campaign.”

***** Now then, Confederate Brigadier General M.

Jeff Thompson, the Missouri “Swamp Fox” and his brigade continued to serve as part of Shelby’s command until this campaign was over and, of course, the War Went On!

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BattleofWestportUpdateDaniel L. Smith, Chairman of the Monnett Battle of

Westport Fund, has graciously provided the following update regarding the Battle of Westport: Archaeology

In 2012, we contacted Dr. Neil Anderson, professor of the Geosciences Department of the Missouri University of Science and Technology-Rolla about performing survey work on the Big Blue Battlefield, because his students had conducted ground penetrating radar (GPR) investigation of an historic cemetery in Waynesville. Due to scheduling issues, the study was postponed until last month. On September 30, Dr. Evgeniy Torgashov, professor in the Geoscience Department at MUST arrived on the battlefield with four of his graduate students to conduct an intensive study of a portion of the battlefield, using GPR, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and a magnetometer. The project was designed to more definitely locate the route of the Byram’s Ford Road and the placement of troops along both sides of it. The results of the field study are being analyzed to produce a report concerning the possible route of the Road.

This same technique was successfully used at the Mine Creek Battlefield in 1998 to determine the location of the three branches of the Fort Scott Road and the crossings at Mine Creek. Graduate student Marshall Foster will use the study as his master thesis and produce an academic report of the investigation of the Big Blue Battlefield. Preliminary analysis from the field survey will be available in one to two months. Dick Titterington and Dan Smith placed the stakes for the study survey area.

Professor Torgashov and graduate students at survey site

Dick Titterington on Survey Site

Graduate student Marshall Foster

operating GPR on site

OurInternWe are extremely pleased to introduce our intern

Sam Freiermuth. Sam came to us on the referral by Professor Diane Mutti Burke of the UMKC History Department. Sam is a junior at UMKC pursuing a degree in public history. As a historic preservation specialist, he is learning from Alisha Cole and Dan the various aspects of our museum and collections protocols and conducting special tasks. He has a particular interest in archaeology and was instrumental in coordinating the recent site visit by the MUST Geosciences Department. In the Museum he is volunteering and providing tours to our visitors.

Sam is working with the chairman on completing the reclamation of work at the 5001 E. 59th property. He will be contacting prospective partners for assistance in restoring the site to its 1864 appearance. He is also working with Dan and Dick on improved trail design and signage on the Big Blue Battlefield. In addition to a love of history, he has a great baseball background. Ask Sam about his ancestors’ appearances in the World Series.

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Intern Sam Freiermuth

CollectionsAmong the items received recently was the collection

of Civil War and regional history books from the family of the late William C. Lucas, Jr. Long-time members will recall that Bill was one of the founding members of the Monnett Fund in 1975. Among the more than 100 titles received are several rare first editions including Action Before Westport and the biography of John N. Edwards by his widow. The library collection and reference materials at the Museum are becoming fairly substantial. We also received a reproduction Federal artillery uniform with accouterments dating to the early 20th Century. BattleofWestportVisitorCenterandMuseum

After having to close abruptly last year, the Museum reopened this season. We regret that we have lost two of stalwart docents this year. Joe Louis Mattox passed away earlier this year. Colonel Phil Baker is moving to Minnesota to be nearer his daughter and family. They both will be sorely missed. Although the Museum will be ending its active season at the end of October, we welcome groups for special appointments. We also welcome volunteers to join the ranks of our docents at the Museum, even for one time a month.

We have provided a number of tours of the Museum and battlefield for groups of bus tours and school groups this season. Over the break this fall and winter, we will be enhancing our Museum’s visibility with revised rack cards and an enhanced web presence. MarkersandBattlefieldInterpretation

We have been working with the Westport CID officers to reinstall marker number 1 which was damaged in 2015. Reinstallation has been delayed because it will be repositioned because of the expansion of the adjacent restaurant. It should be in place by the end of the year.

We obtained a grant from Freedom’s Frontier National Historic Area for a set of three new markers at the Byram’s Ford crossing. We have completed the initial design, which will be a National Park Service (NPS) style marker. We have contacted well-known artist Tom Beard to create renderings of the action at the Ford including the felling of trees and the firefight on 23 October. One marker will describe the origins of the Byram’s Ford and its use for overland transport on the Santa Fe Trail. The others will depict the two days of fighting at the location.

The installation of a hard surface walkway (Blue River Trail) along the right bank of the Blue River now permits visitors to easily view the Ford from the east side, with a short walk from parking on Hardesty Avenue.

Dick Titterington, Dan Smith and Sam Freiermuth are working on redesigning the trails and plans for additional signage. Signs will be placed to mark the route of the Byram’s Ford Road from the east bluff. Interpretation will include the homesteads of John Cox and Ben Rice which stood along the Road during the battle. Signs will also demark the route of the flanking movement of the Federal Dee’s battalion downstream from the Ford.

A new NPS style marker for the Log Cabin using is being designed to replace marker 17 B on 59th Street which was damaged last year. The new marker will be placed closer to the location of the Log Cabin based on current revised research. Publications

Dick Titterington has generously donated the proceeds from a number of the titles, which he has prepared and sells through Amazon. We produced the well-researched annotated memoirs of Edward F. Winslow earlier this year.

We are working on creating a new title, which will replace the former spiral bound guide book with the extended narration of the driving tour which will be full color. Some of the revisions may include a reworking of the numbering of the markers to present them in a more chronological order. BigBlueBattlefieldReclamation

Our long-term project, Saving Kansas City’s Battlefield, continues to progress. The removal of the warehouse structure at 5001 E. 59th Street is largely complete. We are in discussions with an excavation company for the removal of the concrete pad and grading of the site. We are reaching out to Kansas City Power and Light and others for assistance with the restoration of the site as a green space. We have several other opportunities to obtain other tracts within the battlefield that we would like to pursue if we can locate the resources.

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Dan Smith acquired a tract at the tax sale on the path of Dee’s flank move located at 5820 Colorado. This tract was donated and transferred to the Monnett Fund last year. The property requires reclamation to remove excess brush and a vacated former residence so that the ground can also be restored to its 1864 Meadow appearance.

On Lot 2 in the center of the Meadow, a new marker was recently placed to mark the approximate route of the Byram’s Ford Road and the Meadow restoration project.

Meadow Marker on Lot 2

EventsAroundTownCivilWarRoundTableofWesternMissouri

The Civil War Round Table of Western Missouri will hold its Wednesday, October 11th meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the Village Heights Community of Christ Church, 1009 Farview Drive, Independence MO. Tony Meyers and Jay Jackson will be giving a program on “The Battle of Blue Mills” in costume.

Call Beverly Shaw at 816 225-7944 for details. Check their Calendar (http://www.cwrtwm.org) to verify the date, location and find out about the next program topic. Visitors are always welcome. KansasCityPosseoftheWesterners

The Tuesday, October 10th meeting of the K.C. Westerners will feature Erin Pouppirt, who will be giving a program titled: “Pioneer Families.” The Westerners meet at the Golden Corral restaurant (near the Home Depot), 8800 NW Skyview Avenue, Kansas City, Mo. 64154. Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. from the buffet menu. Cost is $12.00 or less and non-members are welcome. For more information, see Deb Buckner or Dennis Garstang or call (816) 569-1180.